


glass box

by storiesfortravellers



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Fairy Tale Elements, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protectiveness, Set in Season 1, Snow White Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-04-06 05:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4209297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesfortravellers/pseuds/storiesfortravellers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Diggle sees that Oliver, in many ways, is still on that island.</p>
            </blockquote>





	glass box

John had seen it before; someone comes back from hell, and they think they're still dead. They go through the motions but no matter what anybody does, they won't come out of it. They stay in their hole, in their knife-sharp sleep.

John wonders if it's because they need the rest.

He watches Oliver smile for the public, for his family, eyes glassy and blank. He watches Oliver kill evil men, stare just as empty. He watches especially closely as he is with Oliver, as Oliver's eyelashes flutter, as pleasure, rough hands and mouths, overtake them.

Even then, Oliver's eyes look hollow. 

He is still on that island.

Sometimes, when Oliver sleeps -- and wasn't it a miracle, the night that Oliver decided that John was safe enough to sleep in front of -- he wants to kiss Oliver, hard and deep, to suck the poison of that island from his lips, until it's no longer running through his veins, no longer seeping into every smile, every moan. But he knows there will never be anything he can do to make Oliver wake up before he's ready. 

He hopes that day will come.

Until then, he watches closely. He waits.


End file.
